I had just put new wheels on my 2013 Jeep Wrangler so I no longer needed the 1-1/2 Spidertrax spacers that are needed when you lift a Jeep with the stock 17" wheels.
So I put the spacers and wheels on Craigslist and the floodgates opened up on the wheel spacers. New they were $130 but I listed them for just $50 as I only had them on my Jeep for 6 months. What was I going to do with them? So in my usual way of doing business is I give the first person who contacts me the first shot and then move on to the 2nd person ect..every 24 hours just to be fair to the buyers. So the third buyer was the one who bought the spacers even though I had people call me and say' dude..I would have given you twice what you are asking for'. My response is 'it's not about the money. My asking price is final and I always go by the order of emails, phone calls and texts I get'.
So here comes this young well rounded college student in in his 2008 2wd Jeep Grand Cherokee with dents all over it. I ask him what he needs the spacers for? He replied that he just wanted bigger tires on his Jeep. I ask "Do you have the wheels yet and what kind are you putting on?" He states he has a set of used 17" L265 BFG All Terrain tires but still needs the wheels and was looking for Jeep Wrangler wheels. So of course I have my 4 17" wheels tucked in boxes behind the Dart and pull one of the wheels out and show him that I have four. I was asking $425 for all four but didn't tell him that. No curb rash or anything.
I could tell that he wanted them. Having two, now graduated boys, both who were in motorsports while in college, I knew where this kid was coming from.
He wanted them bad and asked very politely, knowing he couldn't afford them and would take months to save that much money, "how much are you asking?"
I told him to hold on for a minute, walk across the street to my neighbor/friends house who happens to own a tire machine and wheel balancer and asked how much would he charge me to mount and balance 4 tires and wheels. "Nothing" he says.
I walk back across the street and I tell this young gentleman who is now completely confused "The tires mounted and balanced will cost you a $20 gift card from McDonald's for my friend across the street to mount the tire on the wheels. You can have the wheels for $100/$25 apiece. Pay me when you can. But you have to get the McDonalds gift card now because my friend who is going to mount and balance your wheels now is doing it for nothing and he has two young kids.
He had that 'is this for real?' look on his face. And 1 hour later drove off in a state of dis-belief. A week later he showed up with $100 for the wheels. Good kid.
I always try to help the younger generation with their projects to keep the hobby and interest alive. Two months ago I had two Dusters in my driveway helping two local high school kids with their cars. Water pump on a slant six and a Pertronix Electronic conversion kit for the 318. Too bad high schools are dropping auto shop for budget reasons.
Sorry for my blabbering long winded story.
